LEGUMINIFER^, 27 



coils sharp, with a stronsf mavj^inal nerve and another a little way 

 IVoni it on cither side. Spines variahlc in lenijtli, in 2 rows, each 

 spine connected hoth with the dorsal nerve and also with the one 

 on that side towards which the spine is directed, so that its hase 

 interrupts the furrow that runs between these nerves. Seeds 

 numerous, yellowish-brown, transversely oval, unequal at the base. 

 Plant briylit-green, glabrous, or occasionally with a few scattered 

 Lairs. 



Reticulated Medick. 



rench, Luseme DeiiticuUe. German, GezaJirUfruchtlger Schneckenklee. 



SPECIES v.— MEDIC AGO MACULATA. Sibth. 



Plate CCCXXXIX. 

 M. polymorpha, Linn. iSm. Eng. Bot. ed. i. No. 1616. 



E-ootstock none. Leaflets inversely deltoid, obcordate, gene- 

 rally with a dark blotch in the centre. Stipules denticulate, 

 with triangular acuminated teeth on the margins. Flowers few, in 

 long-stalked, lax sub-umbellate heads. Pods coiled into a spiral 

 making i or 5 turns, globular, scarcely compressed ; coils becoming 

 gradually smaller towards the apes, not reticulated, but with 

 indistinct concentric veins on the faces ; their back rather broad, 

 with a double nerve and a very narrow lateral furrow on each side 

 of it {i.e. between the dorsal and extra-marginal nerA'es). Spines in 

 2 rows, divaricate, curved throughout. Seeds numerous, slightly 

 notched at the hilum. Plant with scattered hairs. 



In pastures, waste places, hedge-banks, and by roadsides. 

 Frequent in the South of England, especially on sandy or chalkj 

 soils, but not native North of Yorkshire. 



England, [Scotland,] Ireland. Annual or biennial. Spring 

 and Summer. 



Very like M. dentieulata, but generally larger, the leaflets 

 broader and with a blackish-purple irregular blotch in tlie centre 

 of each. Stipules shorter and broader, and having triangular teeth 

 instead of the long slender segments of M. dentieulata. When 

 in fruit, the two cannot possibly be mistaken for each other, as in 

 the present species the pod is coiled into a little ball about the size 

 of a large pea, not compressed, and without the elegant reticula- 

 tions on the faces present in M. dentieulata. The dorsal nerve is 

 also double in M. maculata, the extra-marginal nerves are much 

 closer to it, and the spines are curved over the faces of the pod. 

 The whole plant is of a brighter green, and there are more or loss 



